Mercenary Kings

1. famicom

   Apr 6, 2014

   9

   note that many of the reviews were written about the early access version of the game. while things haven't changed drastically, keep in mindnote that many of the reviews were written about the early access version of the game. while things haven't changed drastically, keep in mind that it was an unfinished product and the reviewers were effectively beta testers.
   
   the best way i could describe mercenary kings is a combination of gunstar heroes, contra, megaman, and monster hunter- some parts are more successful than others.
   
   the megaman aspect comes into play from battling bosses with learnable patterns. you're going to want to learn them at some point, because the bosses drop materials for crafting new weapons, armor, and items like monster hunter.
   
   it's a slightly slower paced side scrolling shooter with a cool mechanic reminiscent of gunstar heroes (or borderlands, for the younger crowd)- the guns you can make can have several different bullet types, from bouncing cannonballs and shotgun blasts to homing missiles, and you can add a few different elemental effects on top of it. the game is a little more forgiving than contra- you respawn in the nearest medic bay, have a few lives, and can come into the mission with healing items to revive or heal.
   
   on the downside, you may get sucked in to farming the same levels over and over to get the materials needed for your next upgrade, and this can get tedious (again, think monster hunter, though nowhere near as bad). that being said, this game really shines if you can play multiplayer with someone else in the room/a friend over chat, as you can break the monotony helping each other doing different missions or splitting up in the same mission to clear it faster. if you don't have someone you know to play with, it will dampen your enjoyment of the game a bit, which is not reflected in my score.
   
   all things considered, i had a blast reconnecting with my much younger brother (14 year age difference) and chalked up about 30 hours of playtime. there's still plenty of room for improvement, but i feel i more than got my money's worth.… Expand

   • 2 of 4 users found this helpful
2. SlyguyTheCritic

   Aug 2, 2013

   8

   Now, I'm the first to admit that I was skeptical of this game at first, retro graphics are a bit of a fad, and, it seemed like they took someNow, I'm the first to admit that I was skeptical of this game at first, retro graphics are a bit of a fad, and, it seemed like they took some old game-play and slapped a poorly thought crafting system onto it. But even as a beta, the game is showing a lot of promise with a robust weapons crafting system, a decent soundtrack, a fair price, surprisingly good art design, and solid controls. Now, keep in mind this was written while the game is in beta. But even in beta this game is definitely worth it… Expand

   • 4 of 5 users found this helpful
4. TitaniumDragon

   Nov 8, 2015

   6

   Pros:
   
   * Decent Megamanish/Metal Slugish 2D shooter-platformer gameplay. * Reasonable variety in weapons. * Decent level and boss design.Pros:
   
   * Decent Megamanish/Metal Slugish 2D shooter-platformer gameplay.
   * Reasonable variety in weapons.
   * Decent level and boss design.
   * Amusing if flat characters.
   
   Cons:
   
   * Weapon crafting system penalizes you for experimenting with weapons.
   * Farming for enemy drops to craft better gear is grindy.
   * Game does a poor job of explaining how its various systems work.
   * Repeated level/boss use results in the game feeling less than fresh the longer it goes.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
5. aditya1101

   Oct 5, 2017

   5

   Pretty well done game overall, but it didn't feel like anything special.Pretty well done game overall, but it didn't feel like anything special. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. Fuz

   Jul 23, 2014

   3

   Yet another game designed for consoles and gamepad users only.
   Plays terrible on a keyboard because of way too many useless keys required,Yet another game designed for consoles and gamepad users only.
   Plays terrible on a keyboard because of way too many useless keys required, most of them caused by terrible design. One example... I have to press a key for talking, then have to use enter to move the dialogue forward? Two different keys just for talking? It also get even worse in some menus, basically I need to press X to talk to the character, select the menu item with enter, then press Q for confirmation. What the hell devs?
   Also, the reload mechanic is annoying (guess what? Another totally different key for reloading, used just for that), the combat is underwhelming, farming the same level over and over for materials is boring and customization is kinda pointless.
   Shame, the idea behind it is cool and the art style is pretty good… Expand

   • 3 of 6 users found this helpful
7. CartoonHead

   Nov 9, 2014

   3

   Nothing particularly wrong with the game. it is just boring. Going of the same maps over and over again doing MMO style quests to get moreNothing particularly wrong with the game. it is just boring. Going of the same maps over and over again doing MMO style quests to get more powerful weapon bits that don't actually add any real variation to the game. It just feels like a chore rather than fun.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
8. NFFNSNC

   Jul 22, 2015

   0

   Devs still haven't implemented a way to reconfigure controller buttons, even though they said they would 2 years ago when the game was inDevs still haven't implemented a way to reconfigure controller buttons, even though they said they would 2 years ago when the game was in early access. Doesn't work with x360CE for some reason even if the buttons are correct, it still mixes them up. Another popular way is to configure your controller in Steam big picture mode, but it doesn't work for all controllers (including mine). 0 for lying devs.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful

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